There were many outstanding flicks at 2001's Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. It's no wonder than that each year festival organizers attract a bevy of talent from the Hollywood Industry - including Jonathan Silverman - an actor to be reckoned with well into the future.

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Action: as Hurricane Michelle threatened to wreak havoc, blasting torrential rains and possible death defying high winds, organizers of the 16th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival put on a brave face and pressed on. It wasn't the first crisis they were up against. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on America, booking flights became a major challenge. Luckily Michelle never showed up, but the filmmakers did.

Celebrities on hand to promote films and pick up a few awards included: Paul Mazursky who was awarded the Robert Wise Director of Distinction Award, Paul Sorvino who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Veronica's Closet star Lorri Bagley who was presented the Star on The Horizon Award. Jonathan Silverman was there to promote his work in The Medicine Show.

Laced with a stinging wit that occasionally borders on being irreverent, The Medicine Show is refreshingly truthful in its account of a young man facing colon cancer with an unusual humorous perspective. The doctors aren't necessarily depicted as saviors, the nurses aren't always compassionate, and modern medicine isn't glorified as a cure-all. Like a Band-Aid the humor is not only welcome, it's necessary to stop the bleeding. The film earned Best New Director kudos for first-time feature director Wendell Morris.

In spite of the memory of 9/11 it seemed right to get on with business as usual. After all, President Bush himself requested that we get back to normal. As it turned out the festival was better than normal. The caliber and diversity of the films set the tone for this year's cinematic extravaganza. There were many standout performances, several gems, and very few disappointments but we'll get to that later.

Reelwriter.net unequivocally picks No Man's Land, as one of the two best pictures at this year's festival. Though the film failed to win a prize in Fort Lauderdale, it received critical acclaim elsewhere: Best Foreign Language Film, Los Angeles Film Critics Association; Best Screenplay, Cannes Film Festival and Best Screenwriter, European Film Awards. If you haven't read about the Croatian film already, know that it is an important film and beautifully crafted. The ridiculousness of war, the senseless deaths, and the loss of human spirit that arises in countries torn by civil strife is the central theme of this film directed by Bosnia-Herzegovina born Danis Tanovic. Shot in 35mm against a gorgeous countryside, the sheer beauty of the landscape replete with wild flowers bursting amid fertile green grass juxtapositions with armed soldiers from opposing sides and creates the oxymoron in this dark comedy. This film rings all the more disturbing considering the recent attacks on America and hits a sensitive chord, as it should.

Another picture with substance is Racehoss, directed by Sean Hepburn Ferrer. This documentary was shot in high definition digital film. The autobiographical work is based on the true life experiences of Race Sample, an African-American male who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, learned to survive in a cruel world, and ultimately wound up behind bars for 17 years of a 30-year sentence.

A very different picture but equally worth seeing is Whatever Happened to Harold Smith. Director Pete Hewitt has recreated Britain in the 70s with all of its punk bands and John Travolta wannabe's. This is a real character ensemble piece that also stars Stephen Rhys, David Thewlis, LuLu (the sixties songstress) and Michael Legge, perhaps best known for portraying the eldest version of Frank McCourt in the Academy Award nominated film, Angela's Ashes. For his work Courtenay was named Best Supporting Actor, and LuLu the Best Supporting Actress.

The Business of Strangers was an interesting pick for Stockard Channing. Yes, it is a juicy female role. And yes, her performance is up to its usual high-caliber. Unfortunately the script falls short. Channing plays a hardened middle-aged executive who suspects that she is being fired from her senior executive job, but alas, she soon discovers she's been offered the top job, that of CEO. The next Jack Welch she is not. Channing befriends a young secretary (Julia Stiles) who slowly begins to get revenge on Channing for an egregious decision. The plot spirals out of control during a man-bashing episode where Channing and Stiles drug and then tie up a young male executive, smear him with lipstick, and dose his body in liquor. The psychological drama shows early promise but fizzles out mid-way when characters are not true to themselves.

Conversely there were international films that did stay true throughout including the Argentinean film Taxi Un Encuentro, written and directed by Gabriela David; Under The Stars, directed by Christos Georgiou of Greece; and You're The One, a gorgeous black and white film by Spanish director Jose Luis Garci. Under The Stars came away with the Best Cinematography award. Et Tu Mama Tambien, directed by Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, won Best Foreign Language Film. Categorized as a "Sexy and outrageous Romp" the film invited audiences to follow the lives of two seventeen year old boys traveling the Mexican back roads with a sexually promiscuous married woman who just so happens to be dying of a fatal illness. Sex, sex, and more sex were the main thrust of the picture -- no double entendre intended. The coming of age film could have been more substantive had the characters themselves been more developed, again much like The Business of Strangers. Films that explored character's layers were a pure delight to watch. And there were plenty. In The Eye of the Storm was one such film. Mark Richardson wrote, directed, filmed, and edited the 35mm film about which New York Times magazine critic Jack Hitt wrote: "Watching it made me think of Tennessee Williams and John Cassavetes sitting down to share a good bottle of scotch -- or two, on a dark and stormy night."

Another emotionally complex work is A Gentleman's Game, based on the coming of age novel by Tom Coyne, a beautifully crafted tale of a young caddie studying the game of golf and learning to become a man along the way. Gary Sinise gives a standout performance as a has-been golfer who gave up the tour and tries to bury a past mistake. It takes young Timmy Price, a kid with a pure swing, to bring Sinise out of his hardened shell to face the past that haunted him. Reelwriter.net had an opportunity to talk with its author Coyne about the writing process.

Sports, Sex, family dramas, and coming of age tales were just some of the topics addressed by movies at this year's festival. There was also intrigue, mystery, and humor. Luckily, the stories were for the most part richly woven tales well worth a $7.50 ticket price. A few missed the mark.

One was The Cat's Meow, a mystery caper by famed director Peter Bogdonavich that retells a true Hollywood murder from the 1920s that took place aboard the private yacht of publishing tycoon Randolph Hearst - this despite Hollywood's falling all over the film as a Oscar contender next year. Also falling short was the world premiere Plan B starring Diane Keaton and Paul Sorvino, who has starred in such great films as Goodfellas and who was this year's festival received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Keaton and Sorvino were given a poor script to work with. Take predictable language and enough spoof material (the writer gives a nod to both Annie Hall and mobster flicks) and your attention is taken out of the picture. Sorvino manages to rise above the script, because this actor always does good work. On the other hand, Keaton's performance as a mob widow who gets dragged into the "family business" is a misdirected effort.

Despite the few misfires, the eclectic mix of cinematic choices was the real winner at this year's festival. From psychological thrillers, to intimate family stories, to documentaries with a social consciousness crying out for world reform -- Fort Lauderdale organizer Gregory Von Hausch, president and CEO of the festival, presented an event that was memorable.

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